1. Field of the Method
Applicants' method relates to a method for engineering a control system. More particularly, it relates to a software application that provides for automating the engineering of a control system.
2. Background Information
A control loop must include a sensor (an input point), a set-point, a controller and a controlled device (an output point). This definition allows the creation of a computer based automated process for engineering a system of control loops (a control system). Currently when engineering a control system comprised of off-the-shelf components, system control requirements are generated by identifying and defining input and output points (points), controllers and enclosures (an enclosed housing into which the controller, power conditioning and other necessary devices are mounted), and selecting the appropriate parts for each. If the control system requires, micro-processor based controllers can be selected and these microprocessor based controllers may or may not be networked together.
Networking will require a unique address for each controller. The controllers and points may require transformers or other power conditioning devices. In many cases one or more of the controllers are housed in an enclosure, and these enclosures are located singularly or in groups at one or more controller locations. The resulting control system may or may not include a PC based interface between the user and the control system.
The completed engineering for the control system usually includes manually generated engineering documents created using multiple dissimilar software applications. Engineering documents traditionally created with a drawing software application include but are not limited to: 1) a schematic network architecture drawing (if required by component selection and or the overall solution), 2) a system schematic drawing for each system, either with or without final terminations, showing the system components, the identified points and controllers, the systems control system solution parts and their locations relative to one another, 3) an enclosure schematic for each enclosure applied to the solution, showing the selected control system parts within the enclosure and their final terminations, 4) a method for depicting the final terminations for the field or enclosure mounted devices not shown in the enclosure detail, and 5) final terminations for equipment that is not a selected device of the control system but is either a sensor or a controlled device connected to the control system. Engineering documents traditionally created with a spreadsheet software application include but are not limited to: 1) a bill of material, for each solution or schematic, listing the selected control system solution parts, specific information regarding those parts their quantity and a cross reference to an abbreviation, tag, point and/or device name, and 2) schedules of the sized controlled or sensing parts. Engineering documents traditionally created with a word processing software application include but are not limited to: 1) a sensor and/or controlled device (hardwired point) list for each solution and 2) a sequence of operation for each solution. The remaining engineering documents typically include but are not limited to electronic softcopies or photocopied catalog and/or installation data sheets for each associated control system device selected. These cut sheets have been created and distributed by the manufacturer of the parts selected.
When the control system is installed more engineering drawings and supporting engineering documentation need to be generated. Installation documents that have to be manually generated using an as yet unnamed software applications typically include but are not limited to: 1) material orders for the selected parts, 2) nameplates for each parts, 3) wire labels for interconnected wiring, 4) installation data sheets for selected parts, and 5) commissioning checklists. If microprocessor based controllers are utilized, a database will also have to be generated for the controllers.
The micro-processor controller database for each solution in the control system as well as almost all of the information on the documents is directly related to the engineered points, controllers, and enclosures, and the parts and related part information selected for each application.
The engineering decisions made while naming points, selecting parts, choosing controllers et al have, prior to this method, only been recorded in the method of presentation used for that particular portion of the engineering. There is yet to be a way other than human observation and recording/transfer for engineer decisions recorded on one document to be used in other steps of the overall engineering process or when related across methods of presentation. Greater overall efficiency in the estimation, engineering and installation of control systems can be achieved by automating the engineering process. Because of the nature of control loops, the direct relationship between points, their characteristics and the engineering documents it is possible to fully automate the process of engineering control systems and creating the required engineering documentation. Automating the process would include inputting into a computer database the identified systems, points, controller locations, controllers, power conditioning devices, enclosures and networks, selecting the parts for each as appropriate, and using computer commands on the resulting database to generate documents. Additionally, keypunch errors can be eliminated since there is no manual transfer of information.
Previous patents automating the engineering of control systems have been limited to network connections or generating the controller database for the sequence of operation. Those attempts would only generate the executable database necessary to implement the sequences of operation for controllers (U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,028,998, 6,826,432, 6,701,325 & 5,485,620), may include the network engineering (U.S. Pub. App. No. 20050010316) or only deal with the network engineering (U.S. Pub. App. No. 20040237065). None of these patents include the generation of the engineering documentation as the primary deliverable of the software. This software application method automates the engineering and documentation for a complete installation of a control system including the database for microprocessor based controllers with the exclusion of the executable programming used for the sequences of operation.
Before the engineering begins, the control system needs to be estimated as a basis for proposing. There then remains the additional opportunity to maximize efficiency by starting the automation process prior to engineering when the user is only estimating and proposing a control system. Efficiency would be improved in the handoff from sales and estimating to the engineering responsibility if an application were developed so that all of the decisions made while estimating the control system could be directly utilized in the engineering. The process's of estimating and/or proposing control systems are not strictly defined like a control loop, but they are also directly related to the points and controllers et al and occur prior to the engineering. The Proposal or Price Quote represents the proposed agreement between the installer and user of the control system. In order to have the information cataloged during the process of estimating a control system, the application would have to be simple enough so that there is no added burden on the user estimating the control systems and there would have to be a user interfaces to the database that are compatible with the estimating function rather than the engineering function.